This is a blog by a Memphian who wants to share his unique perspective, along with some interesting facts & information, about cycling in & around the city of Memphis.

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Saturday, May 28, 2016

Any visit to New Hampshire should include a bike ride on the Northern Rail Trail

Any visit to New Hampshire should include a bike ride on the Northern Rail TrailBy:Michael Lander

Many cyclists enjoy the 58-mile Northern Rail Trail from
Lebanon to Boscawen, NH, which was converted from the
Northern Railroad line to a trail system beginning in the
mid-1990's.

If you are ever fortunate enough to find yourself in New Hampshire, and
you’re looking for a great place to ride a bike, the family-friendly Northern Rail Trail is absolutely
what you will want to visit.

There are plenty of scenic views for cyclists and pedestrians
along the Northern Rail Trail, which is the longest trail system
in the State of New Hampshire.

The trail offers visitors with some incredibly scenic wooded areas, around
mountainous terrain, fields and valleys, near crystal clear lakes, ponds,
rivers, and streams, all that are in view of some charming and quaint New England towns with a
few old and colonial era homes and buildings and even a covered bridge or two.

The trail is one of many great bike and pedestrian trails that can be found in
the Upper Connecticut
Valley of Vermont and
New Hampshire and it received its name from what was once the Northern
Railroad.

Covered bridges just like this one are one of the things that
are distinctively unique to New England. This one is located
just outside of Lebanon.

The Northern Railroad had been one of New Hampshire’s earliest and longest
railroads, according to northernrailtrail.org.

Today, cyclists and pedestrians are the benefactors to the land where railroad
tracks once existed between Concord to Lebanon and
where locomotives and railcars traveled along them for a better part of a
century and a half, (143 years, altogether), from November 17, 1847 until the
tracks were no longer used and were finally abandoned in 1991.

This is just one of the many unimpeded views of Mascoma
Lake that cyclists can take in on their ride on the Northern
Rail Trail.

In its heyday, the Northern Railroad, (and later the Boston & Maine) was an essential means of
passenger travel and the movement of freight that was vital to the economic
livelihood of generations of many New Englanders in this area.

The Northern Rail Trail is one of the earliest efforts in the nation in
converting no longer used railroad lines to trails for public use, which is now being enjoyed by those who wish to walk, run, ride a bike, or even ride a
snowmobile on it in the winter.

This is a bird's eye view of Mascoma Lake in 1849 with the
Shaker Bridge spanning across it. The railroad line (and
now the trail system) runs along the perimeter of the
lake in the foreground. (Photo: Courtesy of A.B. Hunt
Publishing in Lebanon, NH)

The abandoned rail line was purchased by the State of New Hampshire in the
mid-1990’s and, through a volunteer-led effort, work was done that included the
removal of railroad ties, installing decking for the bridges, and other
projects that eventually transformed the railroad line into the popular trail
that it is today.

The impetus for re-imagining or re-purposing old and abandoned railroad lines
into something that will be used for the public good was a culmination of
circumstances that first began in the mid-1980’s.

One of the remaining remnants of a bygone era that
cyclists and others can see along the Northern Rail
Trail is the Baltic Mill and its dam and a woolens
factory in Enfield.

The availability of federal transportation “enhancement” funds in the early
1990’s, coupled with a raised consciousness of more environmentally-friendly
alternatives in transportation, the development of non-profit organizations
that were established to promote healthy activities like cycling, and other
factors, ultimately helped to create an environment that has greatly
facilitated the proliferation of bike and pedestrian trails, like the Northern Rail Trail, throughout many
part of the U.S.

The most northern portion of what was once the Northern Rail is located in Grafton
County along the extremely scenic and picturesque Mascoma Valley region.

These are images, circa 1847, of Orange Cut, which is the
highest point along the Northern Rail Trail. Laborers for
the railroad had to use blasting powder and chisels to
carve out a passage through the rocky summit. (Photo:
Courtesy of the Lebanon, NH Historical Society & A.B.
Hunt Publishing)

Part of the appeal for Mackay is the fact that the trail is almost entirely
separated from traveled roads in this section.It also features seven bridge crossings within a 4-mile span and it
provides a runner, walker, or cyclist with a mile-long view of Mascoma Lake all
to themselves with an all-paved alternative route over to Crystal Lake that
loops back around toward West Canaan.

This is an image of Orange Cut as it exists today.

With the exception of the Baltic Mill and its dam and a woolens factory
building in Enfield,
there are few existing remnants of the 19th and early 20th Century industries,
mills, factories, distilleries, taverns, or mines in this area or of the Shaker Colony that was once there, but
there are a few structures that can still be found that stand as silent
sentinels to a bygone era.

After traveling beneath Interstate 89, the dirt, crushed gravel, and
cinder-paved pathway, (which is best suited for mountain bikes and hybrids),
takes you to a wooded river valley that is said to have been carved out by the
runoff from glaciers in the Mascoma Lake area over 6,000 years ago.

The Northern Rail Trail is a family-friendly trail that is
especially popular in the northern portion of it from
Lebanon to Enfield.

As you approach Canaan, you pass by the Herbert L. Webster
Wildlife Management Area, Mirror Lake, and then you come across one of the
most distinctive features on the trail, which is a man-made canyon known as “Orange
Cut.”

This carved out rock formation was created by laborers for the railroad who
used stone chisels and common blasting powder to clear the rock away for the
rail line.It marks the high point of
the trail with an elevation of 968 feet.

The Northern Rail Trail has many bridges along its 58-mile
course from Lebanon to Boscawen, NH with seven of them
in the first four miles of it in the north.

At its steepest grade, the Northern Rail Trail does not exceed 52 feet in any
given mile throughout its entire 58-mile course.

After traveling past Orange Cut, you will go past Tewksbury and Kilton Ponds
and then on to Danbury and into Merrimack County.

While in Tewksbury, and near the adjacent marshlands, you may have the
opportunity to catch a glimpse of a moose, bear, or various other wildlife in
the area, too.

From there, you will go another eight miles by Fraser Brook to Potter Place where
you will come across the only preserved Victorian era railroad station on this
trail system.

The Potter Place Railroad Station is an original, Victorian
era train station with a museum that can be found
about eight miles south of Danbury, NH.

Should you travel the trail even further, you will eventually come to Highland
Lake in East Andover and to Webster Lake, both of which offer public swimming
beaches and a great way to cool off after a long, hot bicycle ride.

Ultimately, there is a plan to have this trail extend all the way down to
Concord from Boscawen and west to White River
Junction, Vermont from Lebanon.If
and when this ever occurs, this will only help to enhance a trail that is
already a great trail to ride on even without that addition.

To learn more about other great bike trails in New England, visit
railstotrails.org or Dick Mackay’s “Adventures in Paradise – Exploring the
Upper Connecticut Valley of Vermont and New Hampshire (On a Bicycle).

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About Me

I am a long-time resident of Memphis, Tennessee. I had a long active duty military career and I am now a student at the University of Memphis. I am married to a native Memphian who is a retired Memphis City School teacher. When I am not busy, or in school, you will likely find me out riding my bike or jogging around my East Memphis neighborhood. If you would like to learn more of my passion for cycling, you can follow me on twitter at - https://twitter.com/memphiscyclist, or you can check out my cycling website - http://memphiscyclist.com. If you have any questions or comments about my blogs, my website or about Memphis cycling, please feel free to contact me at mikel5061@yahoo.com.